


Flower And Fall

by orphan_account



Category: Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins, Redwall Series - Brian Jacques
Genre: Adding Things That Weren't In The Books, All OC Cast, Cute Animals, Cute Animals Violently Murdering Each Other, Fandom-typical Death Toll, Fewer Mice Than Expected, Gen, How Do I Tag, I Can't Believe I Wrote This, I'm Bad At Summaries, Not Beta Read, Original Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, There's No Way This Will Work, Vermin Villains, Villainous Nobles, What Was I Thinking?, Why Did I Write This?, Written Offline, but I'm doing it anyway, violent murder
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-24
Updated: 2017-12-24
Packaged: 2019-02-18 18:44:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13106268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: The villainous Lord and Lady Greenstone are capturing innocent woodfolk and forcing them to fight to the death in the grounds of their castle- with no resistance from nearby villages, their tyrannical rule goes unchallenged. The sole hope of this year's prisoners is a former victor of these twisted games, abandoned in Mossflower Wood and forced to seek help from the peaceful creatures that dwell there. So begins a dangerous quest to defeat the rulers of Greenstone Castle and save those trapped within.





	Flower And Fall

The storm had been raging for three days, and showed no sign of ending. Iron-grey clouds blanketed the sky, laced with nets of lightning, sending a ceaseless downpour of rain to the forest far below. Redwall Abbey's fires shone through the windows of the Great Hall, a golden-orange beacon against the darkness. The grounds themselves were near-flooded, turned to mud and marshland by the storm, and the footprints of many creatures were imprinted in the earth, slowly filling with rainwater as the minutes passed. Inside, the Hall was warm and the atmosphere joyful, particularly from the younger woodfolk, who saw the storm as a new adventure and a source of endless games. Fragments of conversation drifted through the air as the meal was cleared away, twisting together in the air until they were nearly impossible to make out.

"I'm surprised you managed to get that berry tart to the table without Algernon eating it all, Rosann," a young mouse remarked to the hedgehog sitting next to him. "He's an excellent cook, but he's got as much of an appetite as any hare I've ever known."

The hedgehog glanced over to where her fellow cook, Algernon Baybriar, was attempting to grab an untouched pastry from a plate being carried away by an exasperated kitchen maid.

"We had to fend him off with a wooden spoon, as usual," she replied to the mouse, watching the kitchen maid overbalance as she tried to avoid the hare, falling to the floor amid a stack of plates.

"Sorry, Hayseed, really didn't mean that to happen- bit of a jolly mess I've made, eh? No matter, no matter, I'll clean it up, seeing as it's my fault- I say, is that the pastry I was after?"

He continued gathering up the plates and cups, in between snatching food from passing woodlanders. Nearby, an elderly, bespectacled squirrel sat surrounded by the Abbey's Dibbuns, all chattering away about their day's activities. She smiled, half listening.  
"-an' Quinn found an enpty nest in the bell tower, an' we was gonna show you-"  
"-but then da shaddo h'otter came, so we ran-"  
"an' Senny etted moi acorners-"  
"-they was mine, Lomah-"  
"-we saw a tree fall over!"  
"Hang on," the squirrel interrupted. "Faith, Kedd, what's this about a shadow otter?"

One of the Dibbuns, a hedgehog, blinked in confusion, not used to being addressed directly by anyone other than his friends.

  
"It was in the bell tower, missus Abbess. It hissted at us, so we ran away. Probably still there," he added as an afterthought, making an unconscious move behind the otter next to him.

"We can show ya," the otter butted in. "But den ya hafta _promise_ that we won't get put ta bed early for goin' up in the bell tower."

Abbess Edan nodded in agreement, knowing that they would have been worrying about this problem for most of the day, in the typical manner of Dibbuns who found something interesting in a place they shouldn't have been.

"An' the others," Kedd insisted. "They hafta be pandened of bell towers too."

"The others will be pardoned of bell towers along side you," the Abbess agreed. Satisfied with this, Faith and Kedd each took one of the badger's paws and led her outside towards the bell tower- the inside entrance had been rendered useless, as the rain had caused the wood to swell, jamming the closed bar in place. Remaining in the hall, Edan shepherded the rest of the Dibbuns in the general direction of their beds, amid loud and chaotic protest. Outside, thunder rolled, and bright white cobwebs split the sky into a brilliant patchwork day.

Faith and Kedd guided Mother Almah across the rain-made marshland from their perches on her shoulders, giving unnecessary instructions and pointing her in entirely the wrong way. Her paws left deep imprints in the muck, squelching and splashing in the deeper parts that would have trapped the two Dibbuns, had they been walking instead of being carried. The storm was worsening, rain coming down in near-endless sheets, clouds splitting and reforming into dark figures and shapes that loomed over the three creatures, seeming to drive them onward.

Reaching the safety of the bell tower at last, the badger lifted her two charges to the floor, blinking water from her eyes. 

"Well? Show me this 'shadow otter,' then," she said. Mother Almah was a notorious skeptic, and quite obviously thought that the Abbess had sent her on a pointless mission out into the storm. She firmly believed that such things as shadow otters in bell towers were best left to the imaginations of younger folk than herself. 

"It was unner there," Faith said, pointing both paws toward the dark space under the stairwell. The space was utterly still and silent, with no sign of life or movement. Almah stepped forward, hesitant, trying to see through the darkness. No movement. A faint, low growl, so quiet she was unsure if she had heard it or not. Silence. No movement. A bright, brilliant flood of lightning spilled through the windows, the thunder that followed almost deafening. 

In the space under the stairwell, reflected, a single pair of eyes. 

                                                                                                              

Far away from the storm-tossed Abbey, the Lord and Lady Greenstone, leaders of a great horde-army and rulers of Greenstone Castle, were being rained on. Though the storm over Mossflower Wood was little more than a light summer downpour here, the castle roof had worn through over many seasons of neglect, and the haphazard repair in the Lady Artenna Greenstone's study was falling through. They were pine martens, the both of them, brown-furred and long-tailed, the Lord Inverike sleek and well-groomed, an uneasy twitch to his step as he paced the room, the Lady Artenna ragged and scarred, missing an ear, fur ripped and ruffled across her sides. Inverike dodged a downpour of water as a straw patch on the ceiling fell through, drenching Artenna, who stood stiffly until it stopped, baring her teeth in a snarl. 

"This is exactly what I speak of, Inverike! This castle falls further into ruin with every passing day, and any treasure that we find is given away to the victors of the Games- something must change, or we will be ended!" 

Lord Greenstone edged a few steps back, trying to stay out of range of Artenna's claws, his face remaining steady and even. 

"Do not worry yourself, my dear Artenna. Already, I have given orders for our raiding parties to be doubled in the next few weeks, to better amass funds. We will halve the victor's prize this year- they are commoners, and probably cannot count past their own paws anyway. We will be left with plenty of gold to repair the castle, and have enough left over to save for the next great disaster." 

"You speak of the uprising that took your father," Lady Greenstone said, not bothering to look up from where she was wringing water out of her tail. "It will not happen the same way again. We are prepared, and the Games prevent any troublesome hope that may have risen otherwise. Your solution is good, and the orders will be carried out as you intend- how could they otherwise be accomplished?" 

She turned and struck a small bell on the wall, sending a ringing string of echoes down to the castle below. A few minutes passed, and then a grey-furred rat clattered up the stairs to the study, a sodden black cloth cap flopping into his eyes. He gave a deep bow, nose brushing the floor, and stood up in a salute. 

"My Lord and Lady Greenstone, what is it you require of me?" 

Lord Greenstone sighed. 

"Cease your theatrics, Toadbloat. Have someone fix this roof- properly, not just patching up the holes with straw and hoping we won't notice. Get out." 

"Yes, my Lord," he said, scurrying backwards out of the room. "At once, my Lord. Will there be anything else?"

"Get out, you sniveling fool," Lady Greenstone barked. Toadbloat started, turned and scampered down the stairs, leaving his ridiculous hat behind him. Baring her fangs in distaste, Lady Greenstone picked it up by a clawtip and cast it from the window. It was caught by the wind, spiralling out over the tree tops and the castle grounds, a vast circle of forested land closed off by a high stone wall. Barely clearing the wall, the hat was carried away into the far-off woods. Satisfied, Artenna closed the window and took her husband by the paw, leading him down the stairs. 

"We will visit the tributes now, Inverike. The rain is clearing, and they will be restless."

Lord Greenstone nodded, and, accompanied by three of their soldiers who met them at the door, they made their way down the stairs and across the courtyard. After the rain had cleared entirely, the day was bright, water-marks on the cobbled tiles already fading, the wind nothing more than a faint tug at the fur. Their destination, a large brick shed at the courtyard's far end, was one of the few buildings not crumbling and collapsing, the ivy that covered the main castle just barely beginning to creep up the walls. 

"The workers tell me that this year's tributes are strong and healthy," said one of the soldiers, a fox with an excited grin on his face and a slightly vacant look in his eyes. The others, a rat and a second fox who looked near-identical to the first, flinched. The second fox shot out a paw and pulled the first behind her, just as Lady Greenstone turned her head toward them.

"You. Snow, or whatever your name is. Get out of the way," Artenna snarled, taking a step towards the two foxes. 

"Her name is Sand," the first called out from behind the second.

"Stone, be quiet," Sand hissed. "My Lady, please forgive my brother. He is touched in the head, he does not understand-"

"Enough, Lord Greenstone said. "You are both forgiven- for now, at least. See that your brother keeps his tongue in check from now on." 

Sand sighed in relief, allowing Stone to come out from behind her, though she kept her paw clamped over his muzzle until he stopped trying to speak. Lady Greenstone looked furious, claws extended and starting to reach for the back of Sand's neck, until her husband whispered something into her ear that seemed to appease her. She nodded, a faint smile coming across her face, and they continued on. 

The shed was dark, filled with dust, windowless and hot, a place of misery and confinement. Countless sets of chains were fixed to the walls, leading to manacles around the footpaws or necks of the eighteen woodfolk trapped within. Two of every species that most creatures would see in their lives- mice, moles, squirrels, hedgehogs, otters, and even a few such creatures as shrews and toads- all pressing themselves against the walls in an effort to avoid notice by those entering the room. Several empty water pails were in the center of the room, nearly out of reach for any creature save the two badgers, both of whom were chained more heavily than the others, weighted down to restrict their movement.

The building was filled with fear, with anger, with quiet sounds of desperation and pain. At the sight of the Greenstones, one of the badgers gave an ear-splitting roar, thrashing against his chains, striking against the walls with his claws in an effort to break free. Artenna chuckled at his attempt, taking a few steps forward and dancing back, mocking him, until she tired of the game and turned to the two foxes. Nervous though they were, they had resumed their positions beside Inverike, and they stood shifting from foot to foot as eighteen pairs of captive eyes followed their every movement. Lady Greenstone kicked aside one of the water pails as she rejoined the group, sending the remaining water spilling onto the floor, and she grinned, her fangs unnaturally sharp and pointed.

"You two," she said, pointing to the foxes. "There are to be two more tributes, and the chains meant for them are rusting through. Go and fetch them, and bring them back to the castle proper so that they can be fixed."

Sand could tell something was wrong with this order- it was in the satisfied look that Lord Greenstone wore, and the knowing sigh from a mole in the corner, sitting beside the chains, and the cold, wicked grin frozen on Lady Greenstone's face. She knew, too, that to protest would mean severe, cruel punishment, if not execution. She took her brother's paw and led him to the pile of chains, seeing, as she had feared, that they were untouched by rust. The door slammed shut behind them, leaving the shed in darkness.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, anyone who's reading this. Welcome to the world of my mind, where I write entirely improbable crossovers and somehow (maybe) manage to make them work. A few notes: 
> 
> 1- Mole dialect is really, really hard. The mole characters won't be doing much talking until when/if there are a few less of them. If this is an issue, I sincerely apologize.
> 
> 2- This was written offline in a notebook. I had no internet access. If some of these characters share names with existing ones, it's entirely coincidental, especially as I haven't read most of these books in a pretty long time and I wasn't able to check. 
> 
> 3- Thank you for reading this far! If you feel like leaving kudos/comments, feel free to, but there's no obligation.


End file.
